Winter Brings a Flurry of Deals to Salt Lake City

Last issue we looked at a sampling of Park City-area lodging deals for the new ski season. This time we’ll turn our attention to the Salt Lake area ski and snowboard resorts.

With Ski Salt Lake’s “Gold Medal Podium” package, book a four-day, four-night vacation including the Ski Salt Lake Super Pass good at Alta, Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude by Dec. 15 at any one of a number of participating properties and your fourth day of skiing or riding and your fourth night of lodging are absolutely free. Properties are available in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, Mid-Valley, downtown Salt Lake City and even at the airport. Travel must be completed by Apr. 18, 2010. For more information visit www.visitsaltlake.com/ski/hot_deals.

In addition to Ski Salt Lake’s 4th Day Free program, a number of Wasatch Front properties have arranged special packages to attract skiers and snowboarders this winter. Among them:

* Goldminers Stormchaser Alta’s Goldminer’s Daughter Lodge www.goldminersdaughterlodge.com Pre-purchase 14 or more days of lodging at huge discounts to use throughout the season then pick and choose your dates when the powder is deep.

* 4th Night Free Chase Suite Hotels www.chasehotelsaltlakecity.com Chase Suite Hotels in downtown Salt Lake City offers a 4th Night Free Ski Special for snow enthusiasts.

* Thanksgiving Special Rustler Lodge www.rustlerlodge.com Special nightly Thanksgiving rates in Alta begin at $139 per person including lodging, full breakfast and gourmet dinner.

* $69 Per Night Special Crystal Inn www.crystalinns.com Crystal Inn is offering skiers and snowboarders a special $69 per night rate through 2009.

Alta Opens Wednesday

After a momentary delay, a 10-inch snowstorm Sunday night will allow Alta Ski Area to open for the 2009-10 winter season this Wednesday.

The ski season will launch with top-to-bottom intermediate and expert skiing via the Collins Lift and novice and intermediate skiing from Sunnyside. Other lifts will open as conditions allow.

Alta’s mid-mountain natural snow depth is currently reported at 26 inches.

Other Utah resorts scheduled to open this week include Snowbasin (Nov. 26) and The Canyons (Nov. 27). Brian Head, Brighton, Park City Mountain Resort, Snowbird, Solitude and Wolf Creek Utah are already in operation. Deer Valley has scheduled Dec. 5, Sundance Dec. 11, and Beaver Mountain and Powder Mountain TBA.

Deer Valley Will Again Open Season with Celebrity Ski Fest

Deer Valley Resort kicks off its winter ski season again with its annual Deer Valley Celebrity SkiFest, Dec. 5-6. The invitational ski event pairs former Olympic ski legends with television and film celebrities for a weekend of skiing, live music and fundraising for the environmental group Waterkeeper Alliance, which supports and empowers Waterkeeper member organizations to protect communities, ecosystems and water quality.

“It’s natural for us to kick our ski season off with a celebration,” says Deer Valley Marketing Director Coleen Reardon. “We celebrate the arrival of great snow, the start of a new ski season, the excitement of hosting celebrity guests and television crews to experience our mountains, and the satisfaction of helping out a non-profit organization we feel strongly about: the Waterkeeper Alliance.”

The Deer Valley Celebrity SkiFest will include giant slalom races on both Saturday, Dec. 5 and Sunday, Dec. 6 on Deer Valley’s Birdseye ski run. The competition will be televised by CBS on Sunday, Dec. 20 at 5 p.m. EST following the NFL. The public is invited to watch the ski racing portion of the event adjacent to the Birdseye ski run. A Pro-Am race will be held Dec. 5 at 1 p.m., with the final race taking place Dec. 6 at noon.

Some of the best-known legends of U. S. skiing will compete in this year’s event, including Steve Mahre, Phil Mahre, Tommy Moe and Deer Valley’s own Ambassador of Skiing, Heidi Voelker. Celebrities scheduled to attend at this time include: Cheryl Tiegs, Larry David, Bobby Kennedy, Jr., Max Kennedy, Chris Kennedy, Cheryl Hines, Gloria Rueben, Rob Morrow, Neil Patrick Harris, Dylan Bruno and David Conrad.

Thanksgiving Weekend at Wolf Creek Utah Helps Local Families in Need

For each Thanksgiving lodging reservation booked at Wolf Creek Utah in the Ogden Valley, the resort will feed two underserved families through the Ogden Rescue Mission this holiday season.

“The economy pinches all of our wallets, and holidays are often more stressful because of the pressure to provide,” said Sue Munson, Wolf Creek Foundation Treasurer. “We want to offer some relief this Thanksgiving by serving the underserved in our local area.”

“Wolf Creek Utah’s willingness to help at this time of year will be a dramatic blessing to many families,” said an appreciative Gary Doud, executive director of the Ogden Rescue Mission. “The Mission typically donates 1,500 turkeys and 18 pallets of food to local needy families during the holidays. Requests for assistance are up dramatically across the full scope of services the mission provides, so we’re so grateful for Wolf Creek Utah’s support.”

Utah’s First Distillery Since 1870 Opens in Park City

As soon as snow conditions allow, Park City skiers and riders can cruise down the Town Lift trails and into High West Distillery and Saloon, Utah’s first distillery since 1870 and the only ski-in gastro-distillery in the world.

“Almost four years after Park City awarded the National Garage to High West, we are thrilled to share this beautiful historic building with the public,” said David Perkins, High West Distillery’s founder. “Our Vision was for High West Distillery and Saloon to harken back to the days when saloons were a fundamental part of the fabric of a Western town and were quite often the fanciest place in town and the only place to get a good meal. We hope our visitors might enjoy what the saloon meant to the old West when they step inside High West.”

Perkins, after learning the secrets of making “really good whiskey” from distillers in Kentucky and Scotland, moved to Park City in 2004 to start a distillery and pursue his passion to make whiskey in the historic Ellsworth J. Beggs house, built in 1914, as well as the National Garage.

Visitors can tour the distillery and learn first hand how whiskey and vodka are made before sitting down to dine in the Saloon to apply their new-found knowledge. Executive Chef James Dumas, New York born and Swiss trained, fuses classic techniques and artisanally produced regional and seasonal ingredients in unique combinations to pair with High West Distiller’s fine spirits.

Avalanche Awareness Lectures in Park City to Benefit Forecasting Center

A pair of upcoming Avalanche Awareness Lectures in Park City will not only educate the snowriding public, but also benefit the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center.

The lectures, hosted by White Pine Touring in conjunction with Park City Municipal Corporation and the American Institute For Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE), will be held at the Jim Santy auditorium at 1255 Park Avenue in Park City tonight and again on Tuesday, Dec. 22 from 6 to 9 p.m. each night.

Admission is free, but organizers are asking for a suggested $10 donation to the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. There will be two-chance drawings at each lecture with over a $1,000 in prizes from sponsors including Skullcandy, Black Diamond, Park City Mountain Resort, Marmot and more.

For more information contact White Pine Touring at (435) 649-8710 or online at www.whitepinetouring.com.

Stein Eriksen Lodge Again Receives Hospitality Industry’s Highest Honors

Stein Eriksen Lodge, located mid-mountain at Utah’s Deer Valley ski resort, was this month again bestowed with both the Forbes Five-Star and the AAA Five Diamond award, the hospitality industry’s most prestigious designations, for 2010.

With the awards, Stein Eriksen Lodge maintains its position on an elite list of 37 hotels, inns and resorts throughout North America to hold both the Forbes Travel Guide’s and AAA’s highest accolades. In addition to the hotel’s coveted status, The Spa at Stein Eriksen Lodge was also recognized as one of only 107 spas in North America to achieve the Forbes Four-Star award.

“It is a significant honor to continue to be Utah’s only hotel to receive the Forbes Five-Star award,” said Russ Olsen, CEO, of Stein Eriksen Lodge. “This distinction illustrates the unyielding dedication of our staff to provide the highest caliber of service. Without such dedication given on a daily basis, this honor would not have been possible.”

Utah’s Powdr Corp Buys Copper Mountain Ski Resort in Colorado

Powdr Corp of Park City has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Vancouver, Canada-based Intrawest’s interests in Copper Mountain ski resort in Colorado. The transaction is anticipated to close in December 2009 and the agreement is subject to regulatory approvals including the issuance of a U.S. Forest Service special-use permit to Powdr Corp.

Powdr Corp has interests not only in its flagship property, Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort, but also Killington in Vermont, Oregon’s Mt. Bachelor, Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort and Boreal Mountain, Calif.

Women’s Ski Camp at Alta for Beginning and Intermediate Skiers

An immersion camp just for women who want to learn to ski, or improve their skills and ski better as been scheduled Dec. 3-7 at Alta Ski Area. The camp’s setting is designed to foster a positive environment to help get attendees to the next level of skiing. And it’s all packaged together at the historic Alta Lodge, with women instructors from Alta’s Alf Engen Ski School, ski equipment, lodging, breakfasts and dinners.

After skiing, the group builds camaraderie with gatherings in the Sitzmark, Alta Lodge’s historic ski bar, and dinners and breakfasts in the Alta Lodge restaurant. Participants will also have time to relax and recharge with a massage, sauna, hot pool or afternoon tea.

For women ages 18 and older, the camp includes four nights lodging, breakfast and dinner daily, three full days of ski instruction, three days of skiing at Alta and three days of ski equipment rental. The camp cost is $1,349 per person for beginning skiers and $1,457 per person for intermediate skiers, standard room, double occupancy. Tax and service charge are included, and other room options are also available.

For more information visitwww.altalodge.com.

Smith Optics Named Utah Manufacturer of the Year

Ogden’s Smith Optics Manufacturing (Smith MFG) was recently named by Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) as Utah’s Manufacturer of the Year for Innovation and Technology Commercialization. Presented by Utah Lieutenant Governor Greg Bell, this award recognized the ski goggle, helmet and sunglass manufacturer for its outstanding organization and manufacturing achievements on several different levels.

“MFG was and continues to be a major component vital to the success and realization of our goals as global company with business in over six separate product categories. This award truly belongs to the employees of MFG and we are extremely proud to have them as a part of our family,” said Smith president Ned Post.

The annual recognition encourages manufacturers to apply innovative, competitive, and cost effective principles to the management of their business. Moving from a decaying building to a new facility required extensive renovations, but also offered a chance to upgrade work conditions, process flow, and research and development capabilities. Overhauling its manufacturing plant led to a host of new approaches that increased product flow rates, margins, worker safety, product quality, and order accuracy.

Smith also developed a series of new employee orientation clinics, training procedures, policies, and introduced a series of improvements to employee benefits for all 250 employees

Westminster Students Look to Crystal Ball to Predict Olympic Quotas

U.S. Snowboarding is a step ahead of the curve this Olympic season as a project in conjunction with its partnership with Westminster College in Salt Lake City has enabled officials to forecast how many athletes will be heading to the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver this year.

Originally thinking they would be creating a statistical program for the college’s ski team, they instead developed a unique forecasting model with a software package called Crystal Ball to help U.S. Snowboarding make decisions on where specific halfpipe athletes should compete, and which athletes would ultimately make the 2010 Olympic team.

“The work that was done was a great help in planning our season and the athletes’ schedules,” says U.S. Snowboarding Program Director Jeremy Forster. “The initial forecasting was very useful and looks like it will be quite accurate once the final Olympic quota spots are determined on January 18, 2010.”

In January, when the official Olympic team is finally selected, the students will find out just how accurate the model really is.

U.S. Ski Team Shares Quality Time with Park City Academy Students

Members of the U.S. Ski Team took advantage of a recent invitation to visit the Park City Academy to share their sport as well as personal stories and feelings about the upcoming Olympic Games. The students were thrilled to have the chance to interact directly with world-class athletes and learn a couple secret tricks of the trade.

In attendance were athletes Taylor Fletcher of Steamboat Springs, Colo. and Nick Hendrickson of Park City, who chatted with the 120 students present for the demonstration. It was a unique chance to interact with the athletes and learn about the sports of ski jumping, nordic combined, and cross country skiing.

“The athletes in our nordic programs are committed to sharing their passion for their sports. This school visit was a great chance to get this group of students fired up about the U.S. Ski Team and the coming Olympic Winter Games,” said U.S. Nordic Program Director John Farra. “Nick and Taylor represent the future of our nordic combined program and are great role models for setting goals, working hard and committing to being best in the world.”

After the event the athletes signed posters for the students to put in their class rooms and they also were available for photos.

Park City Mountain Resort Names Jeremy Cooper as New Terrain Park Manager

Following the departure of Jim Mangan to pursue a career in filmmaking, Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort has named Jeremy Cooper as the ski resort’s new Terrain Park Manager, effective immediately.

“Park City Mountain Resort is committed to maintaining a leadership position in the action sports world,” said Jenni Smith, vice president of Resort Administration for Park City Mountain Resort. “We believe that Jeremy’s experience and passion will us allow us to continue to push our progression within the industry.”

Cooper began his career as a park builder at Mammoth Mountain in 2002 and became park manager at June Mountain in 2005. In his new position at Park City Mountain Resort, Cooper will oversee the design, maintenance and construction of the Resort’s four terrain parks and of the Eagle Superpipe. He will also be responsible for managing the Park City All-Star team and will serve as the voice of Park City Mountain Resort in action sports forums and social networks.